On 22 December 2023, the Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" together with the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Ukraine held a consolidation meeting for a team of trainers of the Trauma Informed Youth Work programme to present the results and lessons learned in Ukraine in 2023, to discuss challenges and proposals for action in 2024.
The project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" is implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2023-2026 and is based on the results and experience of the projects "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine" in 2020-2022.
In 2023, within the framework of the component "Recognition of youth work in wartime", the Council of Europe Youth Project, in co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the State Institution "All-Ukrainian Youth Centre", in particular:
- Conducted the second training (advanced) for the Programme's trainers team, in particular to explore the relevance of human rights education and trauma-informed youth work.
- Developed a curriculum and conducted a series of three-day specialized trainings "Trauma-Informed Youth Work" within the framework of the State Programme "Youth Worker" (July 26-28, August 8-10 and September 5-7, 2023).
- Organised on June 26-30, 2023, the All-Ukrainian Networking Week for Psychological Support of Young People "Youth Work for Resilience" in cooperation with youth centers participating in the Program. T 61 organisations working with young people took part in the Week.
- Presented the programme "Trauma-Informed Youth Work" at the 7th All-Ukrainian Forum of Youth Workers "Hardened. United."
- Translated and published in English the Trauma-Informed Youth Work Training Course Manual.
The training and practical programme "Trauma-informed youth work" was launched in 2022 as part of the Revised Work Plan of the Council of Europe Project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase II" in the direction of organising capacity building activities for youth workers to provide assistance and support to internally displaced persons, returnees, vulnerable groups during the war. The idea of this Programme arose in April 2022 during a series of meetings of youth workers of Ukraine dedicated to discussing the current challenges and priorities of youth work during the war.
For five months, in August-December 2022, the Programme was implemented by the Council of Europe Project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase II" in cooperation with the Council of Europe Project "Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Building Solutions. Phase II" and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.
The programme included training for trainers, their implementation of training programs in communities in accordance with the content of the developed manual for the training course on trauma-informed youth work. The manual has been translated and published in English.
The trainers of the Trauma-Informed Youth Work programme are youth workers from 12 regional and local youth centres of various forms of ownership:
- Non-governmental organisation "Youth Center of Kirovohrad Region"
- Municipal Institution Vinnytsia Regional Youth Center "Kvadrat"
- Municipal Institution Nizhyn City Youth Center of Nizhyn City
Council of Chernihiv Oblast
- Municipal Institution "Chernihiv Regional Youth Center" of Chernihiv Regional Council
- Municipal Out-of-School Educational Institution "Donetsk Regional Children's and Youth Center"
- Non-governmental organisation "Okhtyrka Youth Center"
- Youth Center "Space of Ideas" (Non-governmental organisation "Kremenchuk Information and Educational Center "European Club")
- Non-governmental organisation "Center for Innovative, Social, Physical and Intellectual Development "People.ua"
- Municipal Institution of the Kyiv Regional Council "Plastovyi Vyshkilnyi Centre"
- Vse bude dobre Khmelnitsky (NGO "Zahidi", Mariupol)
- Non-governmental organisation "Volunteering of the State Higher Educational Institution "Uzhhorod National University"
- Municipal enterprise "Youth Center of Dnipro" of the Dnipro City Council.
The project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" was launched within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2023-2026. The project aims to ensure that young people in Ukraine benefit from participation in youth policy and quality youth work to strengthen their own resilience and well-being, to exercise their human rights and freedoms, democratic participation and citizenship in wartime and post-war times.
More Council of Europe educational resources for working with young people are available here – https://www.coe.int/uk/web/kyiv/youth-for-democracy-in-ukraine
